Chapter 47: The Previous Night II

  "Guys!! I'm knackered! Is the food ready? Is there any alchy for me?" Shu Li whined as soon as she entered the doorway of Miyeon's one bedroom apartment. 

Author's Note: Knackered means exhausted and alchy is short for alcohol. 

Miyeon walked up to her good friend to hand her a bottle of Snoww Beer as she took Shu Li's handbag to store in her room. 

"Yeon-ah, are you sure it's safe here? There were a bunch of people staring at me as I made my way up to your floor. Don't you find that odd?" Shu Lu asked after taking a swig of her beverage. 'I can just move Miyeon to an apartment closer to my condo," Shu Li thought to herself.

Miyeon looked at Shu Li decked from head to toe in luxury brands and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. 'It'd be even weirder if people didn't stare.'

"Em. Shu— maybe you can dress more casually when you come over next time," Miyeon said instead.

"Huh? I am dressed casually." Shu Li responded as she gestured to her outfit, a bandeau top paired with tight fitting high waist leather pants. 

"... I see." Miyeon responded calmly. Perhaps it makes sense that Shu Li and Lu Minzhe are good friends.

"By the way, is that Minzhe-ge chopping veggies in the kitchen?" Shu Li asked with an expression of disbelief.

"Mhmm, he says to leave all the prep work to him," Miyeon responds with a shrug.

"Hmmmm if that's the case, then I might be willing to pay 40CNY per hour." (Shu Li)

Author's Note: Housekeepers are usually paid 20CNY an hour in C Country. Average annual salary is CNY 42,339 so Shu Li is offering to pay double the rate for our CEO Lu. (●´ω｀●)

"I have to keep a portion as a referral fee so let's do 55 CNY per hour." (Miyeon)

"Hey! That's daylight robbery! What kind of referral fee is that high?!" (Shu Li)

"Take it or leave it." (Miyeon)

"Woooow! You are amazing Lee Miyeon!" (Shu Li)

"Of course. Hold on, let me grab you some clothes to change into. It'll be difficult to eat wearing that," Miyeon said pointing at Shu Li's skin tight leather pants.

"Thank you, love!" Shu Li hollered from her spot at the sofa. 

...….

Dinner was an enjoyable affair. Since Miyeon's kitchen cum dining area was quite small, she set up a short legged foldable bamboo table in the living room so they can comfortably eat dinner. On the other hand, after an intense battle with the vegetables, Lu Minzhe finally managed to prepare all the hotpot ingredients for supper. 

The table had a spread of kobe, wagyu, lamb and pork slices in addition to a variety of veggies, spam, and fish cakes. With much insistence from Shu Li, they went with a spicy mala soup base for the hotpot. Of course, despite being relatively weak to spice Lu Minzhe was also gungho with Shu Li's choice. 

'Shu Li has an insanely unnatural spiciness tolerance. Will Lu Minzhe be alright?' Miyeon wondered, sipping her jiaduobao and taking occasional glances at the man.

Lu Minzhe might have made a grave mistake. He's not particularly fond of spicy dishes which is why he tends to stay away from Szechuan food when in C Country and prefers Japanese food when traveling. However, after seeing the blatant look of provocation on Shu Li's face, Lu Minzhe couldn't help but accept her challenge. Of course, as an older brother he needs to show off as well!

'Simply boiling the ingredients in mala hotpot shouldn't make the food inedible,' Is what Lu Minzhe thought, however he was sadly mistaken. 

"Minzhe-ge~ you alright? Your face is red," Shu Li cheekily commented. As if to goad her friend some more, Shu Li dipped the piece of meat between her chopsticks in chilli sauce before placing it in her mouth. All the while, Shu Li looked cool as a cucumber alternately taking bites of red chilli peppers and beef slices. 

Meanwhile, Lu Minzhe appeared as if he'd just run half a marathon; he was sweating bullets. In an effort to match Shu Li's pace, CEO Lu had to chug his bottle of Tsingdao beer. However, he could still feel his lips and tongue tingling from the spice. 'This spice level is clearly not meant for human consumption. This dinner is likely over 300,000 Scoville units! How are these two eating so calmly?!' Lu Minzhe wondered.

Author's Notes: Scoville scale is a measurement of the spiciness or heat of chili peppers. Here's the heat levels of some popular hot peppers for reference: 

Habanero Extra Hot (100,000 to 300,000)

Tabasco Hot (30,000 to 50,000)

Cayenne Hot (30,000 to 50,000)

Jalapeño Medium (2,500 to 5,000)

Pepperoncini Mild (100 to 500)

In all likeliness, the mala hotpot is not over 300,000 scoville units; our CEO Lu is probably just being dramatic. （≧ｙ≦＊）

"Shu— enough. Minzhe-ge is suffering," Miyeon chuckled and went to the kitchen to grab a few more bottles of Tsingdao beer and jiaduobao for the flushed faced man. 

Upon hearing Miyeon's words, Lu Minzhe was beset with a coughing fit and it took several seconds before he was able to clear his throat. "I'm not actually suffering, it's just hot here," Lu Minzhe said as calmly as he could while unbuttoning a few buttons on his shirt.

"Ah, I'm sorry. That was rather remiss of me. Let me turn on the AC," Miyeon said in a neutral voice before she proceeded to the direction of the AC.

"Oh, no uh...that's not what I…" Lu Minzhe stammered. 'Dammit! I didn't intend to put the blame on Miyeon. I just didn't want to admit I can't eat spicy food.' he silently cursed at himself.

Across Lu Minzhe, Shu Li snickers as she observes her 'elder brother' acting all embarrassed around her best friend. It appears, Lu Minzhe made a decision about his feelings for Miyeon. 'I can't believe how clumsy he's being. Wait til SuHan hears about this! It's a hoot!'

Author's Note: It's a hoot means it's so funny. (〃^∇^)ﾉ

For both Shu Li and Lu Minzhe, these casual dinners with friends who have no hidden agendas  are moments to treasure. Eventually, the three ended up chatting about their university life. They had a lot of memorable experiences and soon became engrossed in their conversations that it was nearly midnight before they realized.

"Yeon-ah~" cooed Miyeon's slightly tipsy friend.

"Hmm?" Miyeon, whose cheeks also had a pinkish hue, made a soft questioning sound.

"I'm sleeping over tonight," Shu Li adamantly decided whilst stretching out her long legs.

"Mkay," Miyeon quickly agreed, swaying somewhat whilst sitting cross legged.

Lu Minzhe who had been intently observing Miyeon's adorable drunken behavior felt his ears perk up at the mention of a sleepover.

"Wait..uhm.." Lu Minzhe interjected.

"Oh don't worry, Minzhe-ge. I can call a designated driver for you," Miyeon quipped thinking that the man was concerned about getting home.

"No that...How come Shu Li can sleep over?" he asked tentatively.

"..." 'Is he seriously asking why my best friend is allowed to stay overnight? What's it to him?' Miyeon mused.

"Well, Shu Li is my best friend and she's rather particular with strangers handling her car," Miyeon explained. 

"Mhmm. I'm driving the Aston Martin you gave me, Minzhe-ge. I can't trust anyone else with that car. It's my baby," Shu Li answered cheekily.

"Oh, I also detest when others touch my car." Lu Minzhe blatantly lied without blinking an eye. 

'This little liar! You have Secretary Jin driving you everywhere all the time! How much do you want to spend time with Miyeon?!' Shu Li thought, attempting to hide a discreet smile.

"Plus, I am exhausted from preparing all the vegetables and such for the hotpot. It's my first time doing so and all so to drive in this condition would be too irresponsible of me. Should an accident occur, it would be quite detrimental to the stakeholders of Lu Corp," he related with a straight face.

"Therefore, I should stay overnight as well," Lu Minzhe declared with a winsome smile.